Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- March 2, 2010

U.S.-Russia Treaty Stalls Over Obama Missile Defense Plan -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — Negotiations to complete a new U.S.-Russia nuclear arms treaty have stalled over a Russian demand for the option to withdraw unilaterally if Moscow determines that U.S. missile defenses would threaten its intercontinental nuclear missile force, a senior U.S. official said Monday.

Similar "unilateral statements" have been included in previous arms control treaties, and the former Bush administration used one in 2002 to abrogate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the former Soviet Union.

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MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE NEWS BRIEFS

Carter Orders JSF Changes -- DoD Buzz

Obama Team Might Speed Up Disassembly of Older Nuclear Warheads -- Global Security Newswire

Army looks to speed up technology transfer -- Army.mil

EFV Has MRAP-Level Protection, Conway Says -- Defense News

US Lawmakers criticize shipbuilding budget -- Government Executive

Does the US Navy Suffer From Budget Blindness? -- New Wars

Putin: Russia to build new strategic bomber -- Breitbart/AP

US Marines bring solar energy to the battlefield -- Defense Systems

Taking Back ... The Infantry Half-Kilometer -- Winds Of Change

House Passes Intel Bill After Stripping CIA Punishment Proposal -- FOX News

Cyberwar Hype Intended to Destroy the Open Internet -- Threat Level

Cyber War = Space War -- Defense Tech

Venezuela Plotted To Kill Colombian President Uribe, Spain Says

Hugo Chavez's government has been accused of involvement with the terrorist group Eta. Photograph: Jorge Silva/REUTERS

Venezuela Plotted To Kill Rival, Spain Says -- Wall Street Journal

MADRID—Spain and Venezuela headed toward a potential diplomatic face-off after a Spanish judge on Monday accused Caracas of collaborating with rebel groups to assassinate Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and other top political figures.

Spanish National Court Judge Eloy Velasco alleged Monday that the Venezuelan government had collaborated with Basque separatist group ETA and Colombia's main guerrilla group in a plot against leaders living in or traveling to Spain that began in late 2003.

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More News On Spain Accusing Venezuela Of Plotting The Assassination Of Colombian President Uribe

Hugo Chávez 'terrorist link' sparks diplomatic row between Spain and Venezuela -- The Guardian
Venezuela denies Spain's accusations of FARC ties -- Colombia Reports
Spanish court says Venezuela helped ETA, FARC -- Reuters
Claim of Venezuela-ETA Link “Unacceptable,” Chavez Says -- Latin American Herald Tribune
Government terms "inacceptable" accusation of links with FARC, ETA -- El Universal
Spanish judge accuses Venezuela of supporting ETA and FARC -- VHeadline.com

Turkey's Government Continues It's Campaign Against It's Own Military

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and Gen. Ilker Basbug, at a funeral on Sunday, are thought to have good relations. Umit Bektas/Reuters

Army Ebbs, And Power Realigns In Turkey -- New York Times

ISTANBUL — The detention of top military officers in Turkey last week was nothing less than a quiet piece of history. The military, long considered untouchable in Turkey, was pushed from its political pedestal with startling finality.

The moment, years in the making, was more whimper than bang. But it still raises an existential question for this NATO member: What sort of country will Turkey be?

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More News On Turkey

Turkish ruling party takes on secular army -- The Australian
Turkey generals accused of links to 2003 Istanbul bombing -- The Telegraph
Two new officers charged in Turkey, but jitters ease -- Reuters
Two more charged in Turkey coup probe: report -- AFP
Turkey's rift deepens with latest military arrests -- Reuters
What's Really Behind Turkey's Coup Arrests? -- Cutting Edge
The Weakening of Turkey's Military -- Council Of Foreign Relations
Is Erdogan Strong Enough to Take on the Generals? -- Spiegel Online

What Ends Terror Groups?

From War Is Boring:

“The current fight against Al Qaeda appears to have no end,” Leonard Weinberg and Arie Perliger wrote in the latest Sentinel counter-terrorism journal. (Not yet online.) “Various tactics have been employed to defeat the terrorist group, including assassinating cell leaders and “re-educating” members. Yet the network persists … “

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My Comment: Kudos to War is Boring in reproducing this chart .... it appears that killing or capturing the enemy produces results.

Is The Movie "The Hurt Locker" Accurate?

Some Iraq, Afghanistan War Veterans Criticize Movie 'Hurt Locker' As Inaccurate -- Washington Post

Time magazine called "The Hurt Locker" "a near-perfect war film," but Ryan Gallucci, an Iraq war veteran, had to turn the movie off three times, he says, "or else I would have thrown my remote through the television."

Critics adore the film and it has been nominated for nine Oscars -- a feat matched only by "Avatar," the top-grossing movie of all time -- but Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, says that's "nine more Oscar nominations than it deserves. I don't know why critics love this silly, inaccurate film so much," he wrote on his Facebook page.

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More News On The Movie "Hurt Locker"

'The Hurt Locker' sets off conflict -- L.A. Times
The Real 'Hurt Locker' Revealed -- ABC News
Essay: How Not to Depict a War -- New York Times

My Comment: I personally enjoyed the film. It is not Oscar material .... but still ... for entertainment purposes it was an enjoyable 2 hours.

The Growing Problem Of Veteran Suicides

Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Wimmer's daughter Alex holds her sister Mi-Na at his grave. | MCT

Military Suicides Are Causing Civilian Casualties, Too -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Wimmer charmed potential Army recruits with a movie star's smile, but somehow it never quite reached his eyes, even when he was cradling his newborn twin daughters.

Whenever he closed his eyes, he dreamed of his own dead body swinging from a rope, his feet dangling just above a chair.

When those nightmares eventually blurred, the Persian Gulf veteran and former Army recruiter began trying to recreate their grisly images. He tried to kill himself with pills in the woods, and a razor blade in a hotel room, and every suicide attempt drew his wife, Jennifer, and their four daughters deeper into his dark world.

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My Comment: Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.

Video: A Silent Rotor Blade Paves The Way For Super-Stealth Choppers

From Popular Science:

For all the government conspiracy militia nuts out there, I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that there is no such thing as silent, stealth black helicopters. The bad news is that, thanks to Eurocopter's noise-canceling Blue Edge rotor blades, there soon will be.

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My Comment: Silent hellicopters .... wow.

Afghanistan Imposes Media Ban On Taliban Attacks

U.S. Army Sgt. Arthur Troche and fellow soldiers engage in a small-arms firefight with insurgents during Operation Moshtarak in Badula Qulp in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Feb. 19, 2010. Troche is assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Efren Lopez

Afghanistan Bans Coverage Of Taliban Attacks -- Yahoo News/Reuters

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan on Monday announced a ban on news coverage showing Taliban attacks, saying such images embolden the Islamist militants, who have launched strikes around the country as NATO forces seize their southern strongholds.

The announcement came on a day when the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) fighting the Taliban reported six of its service members had been killed in various attacks.

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My Comment: I cannot say that I am surprised. In the past year the Taliban have been selecting targets for maximum media coverage. For example .... attack soft targets in Kabul but ignore military installations outside the city .... all to create international media coverage and reaction.

I am sure that the media will still find ways to report the news .... but expect no immediate pictures or videos of an attack when they occur.

Will The U.S. Renounce It's Nuclear First Strike Policy?

A nuclear explosion during a test in Mururoa atoll in 1971. US President Barack Obama plans "dramatic reductions" in the country's nuclear weapons' stockpile as part of a sweeping policy review, a senior administration official has told AFP.

U.S. Seen Ruling Out "No First Use" Nuke Policy -- Global Security Newswire

The Obama administration has ruled out pledging in a forthcoming U.S. nuclear strategy review that the United States will never initiate a nuclear first strike against another power, the New York Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 17).

U.S. President Barack Obama was set to hear alternatives from Defense Secretary Robert Gates today for addressing remaining concerns over the Nuclear Posture Review, officials told the Times. The issues to be discussed included the possibility of redefining the purpose of the U.S. strategic arsenal by specifying situations in which the country might use its nuclear weapons.

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My Comment: They will make this announcement .... but I am going to bet that no one is going to believe it.

Former CIA Director Hayden: Al Qaeda Will Use Nuclear Weapons If They Have Them

Photo: Former CIA Director Michael Hayden

Hayden: Al-Qaida Would Use Nuclear Device -- Newsmax

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said the agency has taken it as “a matter of faith” that if al-Qaida obtained a nuclear weapon, they wouldn’t hesitate to use it against the United States.

“If they had the ability, they would do it,” he told Newsmax.TV in an exclusive interview.

“Now as a practical matter, if you’re asking me in my professional persona, it’s weapons of mass destruction they’re after. It’s probably easier for them to work with chemical or biological weapons than with a nuclear device.

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My Comment: Fortunately for us .... wishing for something is not the same as having it. For Al Qaeda they have made their intentions clear a long time ago, but to get their hands on a nuclear weapon systems is far more difficult than what they had originally contemplated. If they do get their hands on a nuclear device, it would be because of a foreign government's involvement .... but I can guarantee you that the consequences for such an action will be suicidal for them.